The Kingdom's Shield
by ILoveIcees
Summary: New teams of DHIs are being formed to assist the original kingdom keepers. One team, however, is designed to protect Disney's most sacred item: Walt Disney's Shield.
1. Oliver

**Wazzup Icee lovers? I'm here to post my second KK fanfic. I know what you're thinking: the new kingdom keepers thing has been done before. Well, in mine, I don't completely cut out the original Kingdom Keepers. They'll show up, don't worry. And now, without further ado, here's chapter 1!**

**October 14**

It was a chilly morning that day. Not due to the weather, or the air conditioning. No; in the Marquee household, the cold was emitting from a fifteen-year-old boy in the attic. Oliver Marquee was always avoided, left to himself, ever since the letter. The family thought their problems were solved, their debt paid. But Oliver refused to accept, to help his family. His mother pleaded with him, his father tried knocking some sense into him, and his older brother tried to force him into it. But he wouldn't sign the letter.

Five years ago, he might have. He was young, ignorant, wanting more than anything to audition. To be a DHI meant going to college, moving to a better neighborhood, having fun! Oliver auditioned, did the best he could, but a ten-year-old can only do so much. He waited for the letter for months. It never came. The new DHIs were released, and the cold hard truth came crashing down around him. Things weren't going to get better unless he did something. So he made a plan to leave and make some money. Maybe then he could help his family.

The letter had come a week ago, and Oliver quit trying to stay calm or positive. He waited for that letter for a long time, but he was only angry he had received it. There he was, planning, almost old enough to leave, and Disney shows up, ruining everything. The letter said he had "specific talents to lead a team of new DHIs". That made enough sense, but then the letter said his DHI wouldn't be shown in the parks. And if that weren't enough, Disney had the nerve to send his _brother_ the exact same letter. His said that he had "above average athletic abilities". After reading the letter, a heated argument broke out between him and the rest of the family, which only stopped when Oliver's younger sister, Amelia, entered the kitchen.

Oliver stayed in his small attic room that he now had all to himself; his brother had moved out the day the letter came, and now slept in Amelia's room until it was time to go to Hollywood Studios. Oliver didn't understand how he could be a leader if he couldn't even agree with his family. His mind was changed about the letter when Amelia suddenly fell sick, and couldn't be taken to the hospital without insurance. So that morning, his mother bore down on him.

"Olly?" She stood on the ladder, holding up the trap door to come inside. Oliver didn't answer her. "Oliver, please." He turned his back on the door. "Oliver Liam Marquee, you listen to me." Oliver turned back to face his mother, and grunted to show he was listening. His mother sighed. "Amelia isn't getting better," she said flatly, "and we can't help her without any money. Olly- "

"No. I said I won't do it." His mother's eyebrows creased with anger.

"This isn't about you anymore. You know that." Oliver shook his head in denial. "Don't you want Amelia to get better?" Oliver looked away, ashamed and confused, but still determined to not give in. His mother raised her voice to a frightening tone. "I can't believe you! I really can't! All I've ever done is try to make you all happy, and all we ever get is punishment! Well, forget it! NO! I won't let this family suffer because of you! Stop moping around about the damn AUDITION! Your letter came, and just in time too, no less! The decision is yours, Oliver, but you have to make your choice! NOW! Before your sister pays the price!" With that, she stormed down the ladder, slamming the trap door behind her. Oliver stared at his wall for a long time after that, before reluctantly heading down to the kitchen. He picked up an old pen and his letter, and neatly signed his name on the line.

About that time his mother came in, saw what he was doing, and hugged him. Her muffled sobs brought tears to Oliver's eyes, and he realized what a kid he'd been about the whole thing.

"I'm sorry, Mom." After a few seconds, his father's booming voice came from outside the front door. It was a Friday- he would be drunk.

"ANITA! Open this door, WOMAN!" His mother quickly released him and rushed to the door. Oliver's father stormed in, swaying slightly as he entered the kitchen. He looked around, his eyes landing on the letter, then on Oliver. "Well, well. Prince Olly has graced us with his presence, has he?" Oliver stood up.

"I was just leaving." He picked up the letter and made his way to the door. His father jerked his shoulder back before he could leave.

"Now, you listen here, boy. I ain't gonna take anymore of this damned attitude you got. You either cut it out, or I'll cut you." He took out his pocket knife and grazed Oliver's cheek so that beads of blood appeared.

"Julius! That's enough!" His mother spoke with a voice of command. His father dropped him and put away his pocket knife. "Go mail your letter, Oliver. Then go tell Amelia and Everett the good news." Oliver did as he was told, first putting his letter in the mailbox, then rushing to Amelia's room to tell his siblings the good news. Amelia was dozing on her bed, while Everett sat in a chair next to her.

"Hey." This was the first time he had really spoken to his brother since the letters had arrived. How could they have a conversation? Oliver cleared his throat. "So, uh, I signed the letter. We can send Amy to the hospital now." There was a long period of awkward silence, filled only by the sounds of their father's snores from the upstairs bedroom. Everett spoke roughly.

"We might not have enough time. She might die before we get there, you know that?" Oliver walked further into the room.

"She won't! She has a chance to live now." Everett stood up.

"A _chance_?! Thanks for that! I feel _soo _much better now!" Oliver was getting aggravated. He signed the letter, that was supposed to be a good thing.

"What's your problem?!"

"My _problem?_! MY PROBLEM?! My problem is _her _problem! Amy wouldn't be this bad if you would just GROW UP!"

"_I _need to grow up?! What makes you better than me?! You're SIXTEEN! Only a year older than me!"

"At least I don't make my family suffer by being a kid!"

"At least I can think for myself without help from _mommy_!" Everett ran at Oliver and shoved him to the ground. Oliver punched him square in the nose and pushed him away, and was about to rush Everett until he heard:

"Olly?" He whipped his head around to see Amelia sitting up in her bed, looking terrified of her brothers. "What are you doing here?" The eight-year-old's voice was meek and hoarse, and Amelia coughed thoroughly after speaking.

"I wanted to tell you that you're going to a hospital, to get better. I signed my letter." The fear on her face turned to instant joy.

"Oh, Olly! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She began to crawl out of bed, but Everett made a sharp noise that made her shrink back. "What is it, Rett?" Everett looked down.

"Nothing. I just think we should all get some sleep, is all." He turned to Oliver. "Goodnight." Oliver scowled.

"Night." He walked out of the room and up to his, rethinking all that happened that day.

A week later, Oliver, Everett, and their mother were driving up to Hollywood Studios. They lived just south of Orlando, so they had about an hour's drive. When they got there, they found the parking lot to be half full, despite it being two hours before the park opened. They found a large group of people waiting for a guide to lead them to the warehouses. Disney's warehouses were big and metal and full of equipment, and it took three of them to hold all of the people that came for the screenings.

Oliver and Everett were on the same team, and they met the other three there. There was a short boy who knew just about everything about anything, a fairlie with the power to read emotions and a colored streak of hair that showed her own, and a girl who was able to plan and strategize like no other. Oliver wanted to get to know them each individually, so he started with the "planning" girl. Currently she was playing with her long brown hair; her eyes matched it perfectly.

"Hi. I'm Oliver." She seemed startled by his sudden interruption of her thoughts.

"I'm Margo." He reached out his hand and she shook it slowly. He ran his free through his own messy brown hair, then fixed his glasses. "Your eyes are very dark green, but your brother's are hazel. That's interesting." Oliver wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"I, uh, why is it interesting?" She raised an eyebrow like it was obvious.

"Siblings almost always have the same eye color- especially if they were born close together. Just a thought."

"Oh," he muttered. He decided to move on to the boy. He had blond hair and bright blue eyes, and had quite a bit of muscle on him. "Hi. I'm Oliver." The boy looked him up and down before answering.

"Reubin. Charmed." He looked back at his laptop and began typing again. He was annoyed when Oliver started talking again.

"So, you're pretty smart?" Reubin scoffed.

"_Pretty smart_? My IQ is 197, so yeah, I'm _pretty smart._" Oliver decided that should probably be the end of the conversation. He walked over to the fairlie and decided to talk to her. There was the orange streak in the ringlets of her gray hair, and she had bright green eyes. He tapped her on the shoulder and the streak turned bright yellow, then pale pink when she saw him.

"Hello." She spoke shyly, but confidently. "I'm Quinn. And you are?"

"Oliver, the team captain, if you will." He gave a small bow. She laughed. When he looked back up the hair streak was golden. _Happiness_, he thought. Oliver and Quinn talked until their team mentor came up and told them to be asleep by nine o' clock. This confused them, but they all just nodded and headed home with their parents.

That night, Oliver and Everett thought about trying to get to sleep before nine, in case it took a while to get to sleep. Oliver didn't know why he had to get to sleep at nine, but what harm could it do? So he got ready for bed, went up to his room, and drifted off into sleep.

**Sooooo? Did you like it? Did you not? Let me know by following, favoriting, and reviewing! **

**Peace Out! ~Icee~**


	2. The Cross-Over

That night, Oliver thought he was having the most vivid dream in the world. But it wasn't a dream, as their mentor, Allen, showed them by giving them tiny cut on the arm and telling them to look at their arms when they awoke. The night after that, everyone was demonstrating different reactions to the strange nightly journeys known as "crossing-over". Oliver thought of it as if the whole of Disney World depended on their shoulders- a welcome responsibility in his boring life. Everett didn't like the thought of being controlled while they slept; he was a very self-conscious athlete. Margo just accepted it immediately, as if it were just an old pair of shoes. Quinn saw it as an adventure, a chance to use her abilities to make a real difference. Reubin was fascinated by the levels Disney's technology had advanced to.

Over the next few weeks, Oliver and his team went through some basic training as DHIs. At first, he didn't like the idea of being a leader; but he was starting to like being in charge. The thought of becoming a hologram while sleeping to fight off Disney villains was amazing enough, and knowing that he was the leader of that group was icing on the cake. His family had used his and his brother's money to buy a new house and send Amelia to a hospital.

He got to know his team more and more. Quinn and Reubin, he found out, were his and Everett's age, and Margo was a year older. Oliver saw that Reubin and Quinn knew each other from school, so they got along okay. Reubin didn't really talk to anyone else, though, and Oliver wondered how that would effect his team. Allen told them they would have to communicate on the field if they wanted to succeed.

Now, it was the third week of being a DHI, and Oliver had just crossed over. Margo and Allen were the only other ones there. They said hi, and waited for the other three to get there. Oliver would have liked to just sit there not talking; but Margo started talking.

"What is your brother like?" She made Oliver jump at the sudden noise.

"What does it matter?"

"He doesn't like to talk about himself. He's only ever talked to me about what I like."

"Well, uh, boys don't really like to talk about that stuff, Margo."

"I know, but…" She looked down as she trailed off.

"What is it?" But Oliver didn't get an answer, because Quinn and Everett had just appeared. Quinn's hair-streak was slowly turning from navy to yellow, and then from yellow to pale pink. Over time, Oliver had begun to learn what each color meant: navy meant sleepy, yellow meant excited, orange meant akward, etc. But he still didn't know what pale pink was.

"Hey, guys," she said sleepily. They all waved to each other as the two of them got up. Margo walked up to Everett and started talking to him. Oliver thought this probably annoyed his brother, and he was surprised he hadn't told her to leave him alone. He walked up to Quinn.

"Hey." She looked up from her watch.

"Hey. I was just seeing how long it took me to fall asleep. Fifteen minutes, from the looks of it."

"Not bad. You almost beat my record time." She chuckled.

"Well, 'almost' doesn't count, genius."

"No, I guess not."

"Anyways… Is Reubin here yet?" Oliver was startled by the sudden change of subject. What did it matter where Reubin was? But he answered her politely.

"No. Margo and Allen are the only other ones here, I think."

"Oh. What about Everett? Don't you two go to sleep at the same time?"

"He had to stay up a bit later to do some homework." This was not true. Everett had stayed up later due to Amelia not being able to sleep. She had asked him if he could read her a story to help her fall asleep. Everett cared so much about his sister, how could he say no?

Just then Reubin and Everett appeared on the ground. Everett got up and walked over to Oliver, while Quinn walked over to greet Reubin. Margo joined the brothers, breaking away from her conversation with Allen.

"Hello, Everett." She gave him a friendly smile, which he returned.

"Hey. So, what do you think we're learning tonight?" Oliver spoke up.

"Can't be too much. We've covered a lot of techniques since we first started." Everett nodded. Margo was about to ask him something, but was interrupted by Allen's loud voice. He was a small man, and his voice was almost too big to fit his physique.

"Well, it looks like we're all here. If you will all follow me, we are going to the Hall of Presidents tonight." The group was confused. They usually went to New Fantasyland to practice their DHI skills. The change in location disturbed them. The group started walking toward liberty square. When they arrived at the Hall of Presidents, they entered through a backstage door and ended up behind the curtains. Allen stopped them, then pulled open a hidden trap-door underneath one of the chairs. One by one, the group climbed down a metal ladder into a room with a single glass case. They couldn't quite see what it was, due to the glass being so dusty. Allen told them to stay by the ladder for a minute.

"What do you think's in there?" Everett asked his brother.

"No idea. Must be important, though."

"I like mysteries; solving them, anyways." Quinn stated.

"It depends for me. The mystery would have to be pretty challenging." Reubin said in a much softer voice than he normally would have used.

"It's a shield." Everyone turned to look at Margo. "See?" She pointed to the case, which Allen was just then opening. Sure enough, he pulled out a shield.

"How did you know that?" Everett asked in amazement. He was obviously impressed, whereas Reubin was annoyed that he had been beaten to a conclusion.

"I have my ways. I'm not telling any of you." All of them were about to say something to retaliate, but were cut off by Allen. He held up a large Medieval type shield of red and black, and on the top was Walt Disney's signature.

"This is Walt Disney's shield. He had it made by his Imagineers shortly before his death. It is the foundation of Disney itself. Before this, Disney was crumbling, dying. This has protected it from outside dangers, but it can't protect Disney from itself. I've told you about the Overtakers, correct?" They all nodded their heads. "Good. On several occasions they have tried to retrieve the shield, so that they might attack with outside weapons. We have assigned you five to protect it. There is reason to believe that the OTs will make an attempt to retrieve the shield soon, so you must be trained properly. After I have trained you, you will come here once everyone has crossed-over every night. Got it?" Once again they nodded their heads.

"Why us? We're hardly the best team." Margo thought out loud as they were walking back to the hub to be sent back.

"How do you know?" Reubin questioned. Everyone knew Reubin was upset at bing outshined, especially by Margo.

"Just a guess." She responded.

"Alright, here we are." Allen stated. "Asleep by nine o' clock at least." Everyone nodded, and in an instant, Oliver was in his bed. He had no idea what was in store for him, but he knew it would be risky. He wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
